Bea stared at the Gigantamax Charizard across from her and glanced down at her own Dynamax Band.
"It's all right. Use it."
Hikaru's voice echoed in her mind, and Bea thought back to the little incident after she had defeated Nessa.
Her teacher had appeared near the competitors' lounge and taken out a strange mechanical ball. When that ball drew close to the band inlaid with a Wishing Star, the Galar particles seemed to grow less active.
Life energy. The power of Mega Evolution from Kalos, a power that had once stood opposed to Galar. That sphere could absorb that kind of life force.
Was it called Soul-Heart?
So now she could use Dynamax. It would not drive her berserk. She trusted her teacher, and she trusted her partners.
"Gigantamax Machamp!"
As the Dynamax Poké Ball was thrown, Machamp entered its Gigantamax form. Its silhouette looked just like an Ultraman.
A Fighting type facing a Flying type was at an overwhelming disadvantage. And just because Machamp had Rock-type moves did not mean Bea could afford to be careless. Leon's Charizard had once shown enough power to smash through Raihan's Duraludon's Max Rockfall with a single Max Knuckle.
Leon's Charizard was different. Raihan had always carried a Rock-type move in his moveset, but he had never been able to beat that Charizard, which fought like its HP was locked above zero.
And so, both sides used Max Moves that were super effective against each other.
Neither one was their own type.
Leon shouted, "Max Airstream!"
"Flying currents pierce the entire field. There's nowhere for the opposing Pokémon to dodge. It sweeps them into a storm and tears them apart!"
Bea called, "Max Lightning!"
"Shining lightning has no physical body. No matter how powerful a fist or a wing is, it can't punch through thunder!"
This was her first time using the move.
Among Galar's first-string Gym Leaders, there was no Electric-type Gym Leader. Max Lightning created Electric Terrain, and Bea had never personally seen that happen before.
Her Max Lightning came from Thunder Punch.
Thunder Punch had a base power of 75.
Under Dynamax, Electric-type moves with a base power of 75 or higher became 130 power.
After attacking, it set Electric Terrain.
For a fixed period, grounded Pokémon could not fall asleep.
The power of Electric-type moves increased by 30%.
Dynamax moves were guaranteed to hit. They could not be dodged. They could only be blocked with Max Guard. So using Max Airstream to raise Speed—
The stadium was only so big. Once a Pokémon had become gigantic, no matter how fast it was, there was no way to fully use that speed!
————————
The cheers in the stands rose like mountains and crashing seas.
The war between giant beasts and giants, between a great red dragon and a legendary titan, seemed like a reenactment of some colossal war that had once taken place in Galar before the Darkest Day.
The poison dragon had absorbed energy from across all Galar, defeated the legendary king of giants, influenced the king of the Crown Tundra, and finally been slain by rustic heroes who had come from afar.
It was just like Leon, born in the countryside, defeating the unnamed Champion of the previous generation and ascending the throne.
That was the orthodox tale of a heroic king.
Charizard was another incarnation of King Arthur's great red dragon.
Machamp raised its head. After throwing out countless Max Lightnings in a furious ora-ora barrage, then adding a Max Rockfall, it was ultimately smashed apart by Max Airstream. It crashed down with a thunderous boom and entered the stage of Dynamax collapse.
The gap in level and strength was simply too great.
But—
Machamp thought that the rest would have to be left to its partners. It had done everything it could.
Bea's ace Pokémon had been defeated, as if foreshadowing that she too would lose this battle.
Meanwhile, the enormous Charizard roared. The power of Gigantamax had not yet vanished.
Leon said, "Incredible lightning power. But it isn't enough to defeat Charizard!"
Bea replied, "I know. As long as it dealt real damage, that's enough!"
"This lance charge will strike true!"
Sirfetch'd was sent back onto the battlefield. Facing that terrifying great red dragon, the duck showed not the slightest trace of fear.
Roast duck? That future did not exist!
"Max Guard!"
Leon did not withdraw Charizard. If he switched it out, the Gigantamax state would end, and Charizard had its rampaging body under control. Right now, it was roaring in the ecstasy of battle.
Max Guard could completely block an opponent's attack, including Max Moves.
Leon said, "Come on. The Protect state created by Max Guard can't be broken by any move!"
Bea said, "Then I just won't break it."
"Feint!"
Sirfetch'd used its sturdy leek leaves to block the attack, then countered with its sharp stalk. Its leek was both weapon and food.
Duck Arthur's lance pierced the "A.T. Field" and struck Gigantamax Charizard squarely in the abdomen.
Because it carried a Leek, it had a two-stage increased critical-hit ratio. Naturally, this attack was also a critical hit.
Gigantamax Charizard's pupils trembled violently. Its massive body lurched.
Its Gigantamax power was fading.
This was the result of the damage Machamp had inflicted earlier. Like a scale already weighted down, all it needed now was the slightest push.
"G-Max Wildfire!" Leon held nothing back. He saw that Charizard's Gigantamax state was about to end, so he ordered his strongest move.
The move he had failed to complete during his battle with Raihan—this time, there would be no problem.
It placed the battlefield into the G-Max Wildfire state. For a fixed period, at the end of each turn, all non-Fire-type Pokémon would lose one-sixth of their maximum HP.
Gigantamax Charizard fired a gigantic beam of orange flame from its mouth toward its opponent.
The base form of this move was Fire Blast and Flamethrower. Leon's moveset, of course, used the more powerful Fire Blast.
Moves with base power greater than or equal to 110 but less than 140 were standardized to 140 power when converted into G-Max Moves.
Bea said, "Pass through the flames of hell."
"Brave Bird!"
When a hero lost his strength, a new hero would carry on the previous generation's story, draw the holy sword from the stone, and begin an adventure of his own.
Of course, there was nothing wrong with a false hero either. As long as the Demon King was destroyed, then whether it was real or fake no longer mattered. Plant your own sword in the stone pedestal. If, in the future, another hero came who could not draw the sword—
Then let them use yours.
If Charizard was King Arthur's great red dragon, and Leon was the rustic hero who drew the holy sword from the stone—
Then which Round Table knight corresponded to the one who betrayed King Arthur?
Mordred?
No. Lancelot!
The white Brave Bird pierced the flames and struck Charizard, but the leek began to burn fiercely.
Bea said, "Why hasn't Gigantamax ended yet? Wasn't the damage enough?"
"An even stronger strike than Brave Bird—use Sky Attack!"
The shining white duck gathered its strength, then launched another charge.
Its green shield fell to the ground as Sirfetch'd used every ounce of strength it had. With a sharp quack, it crashed down amid a tremendous explosion.
The duck had finally achieved its goal with everything it had.
Charizard's Gigantamax had ended!
Bea shouted, "Grapploct!"
"A specialist in inversion, huh? So it's here!" Leon commanded Charizard. "But the effect of G-Max Wildfire is still active. Those blazing flames will chip away at your stamina!"
"Air Slash!"
He gave the order, but in the next instant, Grapploct moved even faster.
Its tentacles extended and contracted freely with unstoppable speed, and a fist struck Charizard!
Bea called, "Sucker Punch! It attacks before the opponent can use its move!"
"After Topsy-Turvy, use Liquidation!"
A blade of water appeared over Grapploct's tentacles. It rushed toward Charizard and plunged into fierce combat.
Charizard's Dragon Claw rose in a savage swing, clashing violently against Liquidation. With one claw, it sent Grapploct flying.
Bea was drenched in sweat.
This Charizard was far too strong. It simply would not go down. How much damage had it taken already?
Did it have infinite stamina?
"In that case, I'll send out the ace above my ace. It still isn't strong enough, so I had to keep it hidden until the critical moment."
"One strike will decide this!"
Grapploct was withdrawn. In front of Charizard, the black-and-white figure of a bear appeared, kicking up dust across the battlefield.
Within the storm and dust, intense true energy gathered.
"Is that Pangoro—no?!"
Leon's gaze sharpened.
He had once trained on the Isle of Armor, though he had not passed the trial of the Towers of Two Fists.
But Leon had seen that Pokémon before.
It should have been a Pokémon only his master, Mustard, possessed!
Leon said, "So that's it. You passed the trial of the Towers of Two Fists and obtained the Secret Armor! Ha, so that's what happened!"
"After so many years, this Pokémon has returned to Galar's stadiums. Then which one is it?!"
It was a Pokémon that never should have existed on Bea's team.
After witnessing the power of another Legendary Pokémon on the Isle of Armor, it had developed the desire to challenge it. Through a desperate battle, Bea had finally obtained it.
Bea threw a punch. The Pokémon hidden by dust took the same stance and raised its fist.
"A!"
Agyō cried out like a wrathful guardian king.
With unstoppable force, it pierced the storm.
"Wicked Blow!"
Charizard took the punch head-on and failed to evade.
That strike was guaranteed to land as a critical hit.
The fire dragon was blasted straight into the distance.
A violent tremor followed.
King Arthur's invincible great red dragon raised its head toward the sky, its pupils rolling white.
It had lost the ability to battle.
The stands fell utterly silent. Even the announcer and referee stared in a daze at this almost impossible scene.
Charizard.
The invincible Charizard.
After being defeated by that alloy dragon, it had once again—
"Th-th-th-this! What an unbelievable turn of events!"
In the stands, Hikaru watched the battle and listened to the announcer's howl. He murmured softly.
"It looks unrelated, but it actually is."
Among Urshifu's inspirations, aside from the Asian black bear, Single Strike Style drawing from Bajiquan, and Rapid Strike Style drawing from mantis boxing—
Its origin also contained elements of King Arthur. It simply borrowed from Arthur's name.
King Arthur, and the personal name Arthur, came from the Celtic language family. Its meaning was "noble," or it symbolized a bear—in other words, a "bear warrior."
"The red dragon is the symbol of Britain, but the bear was Arthur's original form. That is why it can subdue the red dragon. After the lion rose, the bear's majesty and glory were buried in British history."
"Urshifu represents the primordial Arthur. Sirfetch'd represents Lancelot. The Knights of the Round Table..."
Berserker had beaten Archer. Something like that could actually happen? Though the price had been steep.
Then the final battle began.
Leon's back line consisted of a Rhyperior with Solid Rock, and his vanguard general, Aegislash.
On Bea's side, she still had Urshifu and Grapploct.
Over the broadcast, the announcer's voice blazed with excitement.
"The final battle begins! Could a new Champion truly be born here today?"
But in the stands, countless spectators showed expressions of disbelief. For a moment, they even forgot to argue. They forgot to release negative emotions at all. They could only stare in astonishment at what was happening inside the stadium.
It had already been seven seasons since Leon became Champion, hadn't it?
The undefeated king. The absolute king. A Trainer called one of the strongest in the world.
Chairman Rose had even publicly stated that Leon might be the strongest Champion.
Was someone that powerful, someone with such extraordinary talent for battle, going to be defeated here?
"Leon-kun, don't give up! You're the best! You can't lose!"
"We're witnessing... we're witnessing history!"
"But Bea from Stow-on-Side is really cute too. If she becomes Champion..."
Different cries rang out from the stands, shaking people's hearts. And then Leon's voice suddenly rang out around them.
"The audience aren't the only ones who have been waiting for this moment. My partners and I have been waiting too!"
"If we lose, then we'll let ourselves be frustrated. Then we'll stand back up."
"When we win, we're happier than anyone. When we lose, we're more unwilling to accept it than anyone. But I've thought about it. Isn't this lively world exactly what we've been hoping for?"
"Your cheers are cruel, of course. They expect one side to be defeated. In the past, I enjoyed the victories that came under that pressure. But it has been a very long time since I tasted the bitterness of defeat!"
"There is a kind of strength that can only be gained through rivals and partners!"
"Let wonderful, fiery battles live forever!"
"I'm going to change the wish I once made!"
"A strong person once told me that, in a distant region, light and goodness are called Batonnage!"
"So this is my wish!"
"Let beautiful Galar become an even livelier, more energetic place! Look forward to the next Champion Cup!"
Leon looked at Bea.
"Recite the spell, young lady."
He shouted to everyone and struck his Champion pose. Only then did Bea see that there were two pendants on his wrist.
Those two things belonged to her teacher!
Leon shouted, "Recite the spell, everyone!"
"Batonnage!"
A shining crystal light lit up in the center of the stadium.
Bea froze for a moment, then showed a look of understanding.
So the Champion knew that spell too. The spell her teacher had told them, the spell that could awaken the light buried in darkness. As long as one recited it—
No matter what kind of dark heart it was, it could be overcome.
Bea nodded as well. "Batonnage!"
The people in the stands were stunned at first. Then, right after, waves of cheers erupted like a tsunami.
"Leon!"
"Batonnage! Batonnage!"
They did not know what Batonnage meant.
But the Champion and the legendary challenger were both shouting it, so they might as well shout along.
In any case, let Galar brim with life. Hadn't this year's Champion Cup challenge been full of surprises?
————————
Inside Wyndon Stadium, cheers and laughter replaced the previous anger and hatred. Because of the incredible word Champion Leon had shouted, it gradually began to spread from mouth to mouth.
And that influenced the wishes in people's hearts, causing Eternatus beneath Hammerlocke to react as well.
Not only had the life energy from the Power Spots been stolen, but people's hearts had changed with it.
With Eternatus's "super intelligence," of course it was impossible for it to look in all directions and understand what was happening in faraway Wyndon. After all, it did not have eyes.
So, faced with this bizarre and sudden phenomenon, Eternatus did not care about the Dark Crystal.
It only cared about something else.
Could particle recovery still proceed smoothly?
It had received quite a few wishes!
But.
Would it still have food to eat?
It had endured in silence after giving away a little energy, so how had it become everyone's sucker? It had been bottled up for three thousand years before finally making a successful wish. The black crystals had descended beside it like a feast, and an unlimited feast at that. In the last three thousand years, when had it ever eaten its fill like this?
And now there was no food?
Could Kalos have attacked?
Eternatus felt that its super intelligence still was not high enough. The roaring in the Dark Crystal made it somewhat irritated. It was babbling in some Warp language, and Eternatus could not understand it at all.
"Wisdom and power."
Far away in the Almia region, the soul of the King of Almia, who could only absorb the darkness in human hearts through fragments, was likewise baffled by Eternatus's low rationality.
Dynamax was a power that drove living creatures berserk. Before Eternatus took back all its Wishing Stars, this poison dragon's intelligence truly was not high.
"Although the desires in people's hearts were reversed at the final moment, the world's negative emotions are still accumulating little by little. I am in no hurry."
"And if the current you returns to your prime, you will surpass your former state. No one will be able to control you. You will gain freedom! Once again, move freely across Galar's land! Infinite energy. What an extraordinary creature!"
"You have heard enough wishes by now, haven't you?"
Of course, Eternatus did not absorb much of that long string of words. It only remembered two things.
There was still food.
And it could still run freely.
"Can I beat those two heroes?"
"Don't believe it!"
"Give me power!"
So Eternatus asked.
The Dark Crystal answered:
"As long as your power reaches its limit, then when combined with my power, every Pokémon living in Galar will be controlled according to your will. That said, when I was human, I also heard the story of the Darkest Day."
"Ancient kingdoms always possessed all kinds of gigantic power."
"Controlling Pokémon and causing them to grow gigantic and berserk, or suppressing the power of Dynamax—these are all abilities you possess, aren't they? I am merely returning you to your prime!"
"When Wishing Stars gather, they reveal the future. When a powerful Trainer makes a wish, they can use that tremendous power to even change that future."
"As a Pokémon, you yourself are not evil. It is just that when ancient people tried to control you, the burden on the Trainer was enormous, and it was easy for you to go berserk. That is why you came to be seen as an evil Pokémon, and why the story was passed down that way."
"The people of ancient Galar used your power to invade neighboring countries, only to destroy their own kingdom in the end."
"But as long as it is used properly, even the heroes can be driven berserk. That should be no problem."
"The 'radiance' that lights up the Darkest Day certainly does not exist. Then I shall give you a portion of my power. This should cause your Galar particles to... activate? Hm. I do not understand machines."
The King of Almia was a king of the mystical side. Unlike AZ of Kalos, he had no particular insight into black technology and inventions.
Eternatus nodded.
Then this rather brainless giant dragon received the active power within the Dark Crystal, causing its own Galar particles to become highly active.
And then, in the language of an alien Pokémon, it suddenly spoke the wish it had heard.
"Batonnage!"
After Eternatus murmured the word, the Dark Crystal's whispers instantly vanished, as if driven away.
So that was it. That spell really did work.
"Learned it!"
That noisy thing must have been uncomfortable. It had never expected this move!
To eat delicious fragments, fulfill the wish it had once made to the stars, and avoid being ordered around by some dark soul—after understanding what it wanted to know, Eternatus used its super intelligence.
From the current results, it was truly clever beyond belief.
The essence of life was repetition!
And after eating a large number of fragments, Eternatus sensed something else: a very large Wishing Star fragment lay in the south of this land.
Ah. From long ago, when it fought a rampaging, super-gigantic titan. There was also a memory of a creature with a very large head riding a horse. Though only a tiny bit of that memory had returned.
But Eternatus had never known what it was doing anyway, so it did not matter. Absorbing energy and converting it into Galar particles was its way of survival!
"Plenty of time?"
"No. I decide when to fight!"
"I have recovered part of my memory. The sooner, the better!"
"Now. Immediately. The Crown Tundra!"
It seemed that waiting for others to feed it was worse than taking the initiative.
For a long, long time, because Eternatus had never known what exactly it was supposed to do, it had constantly been used by others, then defeated, starved half to death, then made wishes. And it had suffered like that ever since.
Now, Eternatus had super intelligence.
The first long night was about to begin!
I am the source that can grant wishes. Not you, crystal!
A mere Dark King's soul dares challenge an immortal ancient dragon?
Eternatus flicked its tail. Around it stood a control barrier like a "shell." It simply tested its power.
But just as Eternatus released a bombardment and destroyed the barrier—
Amid exploding waves of light and blaring electronic alarms, two men with sword-and-shield hairstyles appeared inside the energy plant.
"To restore the glory of the royal family, we used psychic power to learn the location of the sword and shield!"
"To subdue Eternatus, we will use Dynamax Pokémon to recreate the power of ancient Galar!"
"From south to north, gigantic Pokémon will flatten everything! Rose's analyzed machine will be put to proper use, and we will be taking Blake Hall's things as well! Our cooperation ends here!"
This was the assassins' victory!
The two men with sword-and-shield hair burst into arrogant laughter.
The Dark Crystal's voice sounded faintly.
"So it seems... if this is your own will, then destroying Galar does not seem difficult either. Very well. If I cannot obtain accumulated darkness from human hearts through the stadium tournament, then if the entire region falls into fear of the future, even repeated chanting of 'Batonnage' will no longer help."
"Do as you please. Whatever you want to do is fine."
"My three foolish sons have not even gathered. With only the power of two crystal fragments, what can they do? They are nothing more than tourist souvenirs sold by later generations."
"Once Altru Inc. recruits qualified fighters—fighters capable of defeating the crystal guardians, defeating Lucario, Heatran, and Cresselia, obtaining all three crystal ores, and then burying them in some unknown place..."
At that thought, the Dark King's soul could not help sighing again and again.
The Almia region was a region where Trainers were forbidden. In other words, it was impossible to pull a fairly strong fighter off the road at random the way one could in distant regions like Galar.
By luring Galar's experts into making wishes, he could make them fall into nightmares and use them, just like Blake Hall.
Some Pokémon could do such things as well. In the Kalos region, there was a species of Pokémon said to possess the strongest hypnosis.
But hypnosis was still hypnosis. How could it compare to personality rewriting?
And Trainers... heh. How interesting.
Three thousand years ago, such things did not exist. Between humans and magical beasts, powerful bonds had actually formed, and they had become like this. It was almost like what King Harmonia had done.
Supposedly, the term Pokémon had begun spreading from the Unova region. Other regions had all called these creatures magical beasts.
And that king possessed the great power to summon one hundred thousand Pokémon to battle in a single day. But even a person with that kind of power had ultimately died in battle.
"None of this is going smoothly!"
"But if I can make those powerful wishers fall into chaos on their own, then things will go smoothly enough."
Galar's position had always been controlled by him, a magician.
The range of absorbing negative emotions from human hearts covered the entire world.
Among the seven regions that had gone to war in the past, Almia had been the weakest. He had once felt fear and unease toward disastrous events from the outside world.
A region that had created the ultimate weapon.
A region that could summon one hundred thousand Pokémon to battle all at once.
A region capable of bringing about a Darkest Day that covered heaven and earth.
A region ruled by four kings, where light vanished and auras were bestowed.
A region with a sky fortress capable of destroying islands with a single shot.
And a terrifying region with the name of a god, able to freely summon time and space, thereby passing down its legacy.
It had taken him thousands of years to obtain power capable of competing with them.
Was he supposed to let his three sons erase that power?
"As long as I have this power, I can create a brand-new Almia!"
"No one has to be feared. No matter what enemy appears, they can be beaten back! Let every Pokémon in the Almia region become soldiers!"
"Those three useless sons were always like that. They only knew how to plot against one another and never cared about the kingdom's affairs. That is why I exiled them."
"How is this any different from three thousand years ago? My sons actually rebelled against me and sealed me away!"
———————
"After being defeated, that fellow Leon was only down for a short while before immediately pulling himself together."
"When it comes to Pokémon battles, that man really is terribly innocent. But that's exactly why everyone likes him."
"Leon's expression changed. Fighting strong opponents from other regions helped him understand something. That man actually... only needed a little more!"
Leon would not lose.
Chairman Rose had always believed that.
And yet, this time, that man really had—
That Pokémon the girl from Stow-on-Side brought out—had it ever appeared in a Galar competition before?
"The times have changed... and yet perhaps they haven't."
Watching Leon's back, the obsession and fog in Chairman Rose's heart seemed to be slightly dispelled. Then, unconsciously, he too began to recite that spell.
Batonnage.
Awaken the light buried in darkness.
The negative emotions in people's hearts vanished and became positive emotions. Though it lasted only for a very short time, that feeling—this was what Galar's stadium battles were supposed to be!
"Batonnage."
Vaguely, it felt as though something was calling out to him. But the voice was blurred and indistinct. He could not tell whether it belonged to a ghost from three thousand years ago, or to Eternatus.
Chairman Rose took the Dark Crystal fragment from his chest. In his other hand, he held a small Wishing Star.
He stared at the fragment for a long while, and thoughts surged uncontrollably through his mind.
"You want to control me? Control me, Rose?"
"My heart is righteous. I am wholeheartedly devoted to Galar! I am not collecting fragments for anyone. Galar needs change, and the one who will change it is me. Me, not you."
"A dark soul from three thousand years ago amounts to no more than this."
Chairman Rose tossed the fragment down, then sent out his Pokémon.
"Copperajah. Crush this fragment. One less piece should not matter."
"Awaken the light buried in darkness. Still, my plan will continue. A new era has begun. Yes, and that is fine. This era needs powerful people."
"Though enjoying this moment is not bad either. This too is one of the things I have sought."
Chairman Rose spoke those words.
Then, immediately afterward, he received a phone call. His Rotom Phone nearly slipped from his hand.
A crackling, broken voice came through the call.
"Sordward and Shielbert... stole... the particle injection machine. Also, the remote-controlled Avery, obtained from Altru Inc., seems to be with them... guiding..."
"Chairman... Eternatus—bzzt—has escaped! It blew up the energy plant, charged into the dark clouds in the sky, and disappeared!"
"The tower in Hammerlocke... has split open!"
Rose said, "How can this be? Eternatus has already recovered enough power to move freely? Impossible. The feeding of Wishing Stars should not yet have reached the level needed for it to fully recover its energy and trigger the Darkest Day!"
"This is not the predicted result! Even with the large batch of new Wishing Stars we collected recently, it still shouldn't..."
"How much power can a Dark Crystal fragment provide...? No, this was Eternatus's own choice?! It made a wish and struck a deal with that dark soul!"
"Does Eternatus... possess that level of intelligence?"
"Those two damned Sordward and Shielbert. Stealing from Macro Cosmos—can they really call themselves celebrities? Well, that said, we were also considering stealing Aether Foundation technology... so perhaps I can't entirely..."
"Those who steal will inevitably be stolen from. I never expected Eternatus to act on its own. It had always behaved normally before. Did the crystal guide the darkness and desire in human hearts, and activate even Eternatus?"
The value of Luck E was still rising.
"I once prayed from the bottom of my heart and believed everything would go smoothly! I paid no mind to that Elite Four member's warning. I firmly believed my will was strong. But it turns out the dark soul wasn't watching me. It was watching those two clowns and the Psychic-type specialist. Blake Hall made a fool of me!"
"But if the Darkest Day can be successfully triggered, then perhaps I have no reason to stop it."
Chairman Rose thought this, frustrated though he was. If the result was correct, then was he supposed to help the escaped Eternatus instead?
"However, Remote Control is dangerous. We must recover it! On this point, there can be no compromise!"
Although he still did not know exactly how many Pokémon Remote Control could control, if Dynamax Pokémon had their minds controlled by those two clowns, then even the elite response teams under his command would be helpless.
"For Galar's bright future!"
————————
"In the caves of the Crown Tundra, there are Galar particles with abnormal wavelength parameters. Because of that, only Pokémon adapted to those special particles can move around inside the cave world. Those particles are slightly different from the energy that gushes out from the Power Spots in the various stadiums."
"If we go to the Crown Tundra, we'll be able to investigate some incredible things. After all, it's a secret land covered in snow."
That setting was the core of Dynamax Adventures.
Challengers were not allowed to use their own Pokémon.
They could only rent Pokémon from the researcher. And that female researcher, Peonia, would say she had come from the space research institute in the Alola region.
Also, in the Crown Tundra, there was a Nebby.
"Maybe we can bring that Nebby back to Alola. If it stays here, it will never be able to grow properly. It has to be at the Altar of the Sunne."
After the grand conclusion of the Champion Cup at the stadium, Sonia said she wanted to come along to the Crown Tundra and investigate matters related to the Darkest Day, especially the large Wishing Star.
In order to become a hero, or to investigate new material, they would run all over Galar.
Sonia said, "In that case, I have to go back to the lab first. I need to bring the Power Spot Detector!"
With their own thoughts in mind, the group prepared to leave Wyndon and head for Postwick, in the southern lands of Galar.
Leon and Bea were not there. As the former Champion and the current Champion, they had many matters to hand over. That said, this battle had only been a narrow victory.
After Leon surpassed himself, whether the next Champion Cup could maintain this level was still unknown.
"Still, I finally completed the objective Pokémon: Twilight Wings failed to finish. This time, Machamp wasn't cut down in one strike by Big Zard-sensei. It didn't job, and it truly did all it could."
If Bea had not become Champion, then what had been the point of watching this match?
All that special training and all those targeted drills had produced exactly this result.
"Beat Leon once while he still isn't completely invincible."
"If he reaches enlightenment in the dragon field later, there won't be another chance like this!"
Beep, beep, beep—
His Rotom Phone rang. It was a message from Bea.
"Teacher! Why did you suddenly leave? Please wait a moment. I'm going to the Crown Tundra too!"
"As the new Champion, shouldn't you have a lot of sponsors waiting for you?"
"Um... I'm not good at dealing with those things. Are you saying I should wear a Champion Cape covered in advertisements? That's just too, too embarrassing..."
Hikaru thought it over carefully.
Reasonable.
After all, once Gloria beat Leon in the postgame, she ignored everything and ran all over the place too, heading to the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra, doing whatever she wanted as she pleased.
Player-style Champions were all hands-off figureheads. Aside from the Sun and Moon protagonist, who stayed in the Champion's chamber to squat there, the rest came and went like ghosts.
"Ahem! Also, I understood Mr. Leon's final wish."
"Batonnage. Teacher, you were the one who gave those items to Mr. Leon, right? So I made a promise with him. We'll have another decisive battle at next year's Champion Cup! My strength still isn't enough."
"Before then, Mr. Leon will keep a close eye on Macro Cosmos and stop them from doing anything dangerous. Allister can see dark souls, so I recommended him to Mr. Leon. He should be able to help. If someone has whispering around them, he can tell at a glance!"
"Mr. Leon has decided to sit down and have a proper talk with Chairman Rose. And Mr. Leon said—"
"As the one who bore the title of undefeated, I could not afford the slightest misstep. But once I lost, the shackles were removed instead. Now I can happily challenge a higher level!"
"I've become stronger. That's all there is to it!"
"That's right. A true Champion should win and lose. I've decided that half a year before the next Champion Cup begins, I'll go challenge Champions from other regions! My first target will be Mt. Silver!"
From the sky, a flapping Charizard descended, carrying Bea over.
"Thank you very much, powerful Trainer from far away."
"I look forward to the time when I can battle you with all my strength. I want you to accept this."
"Well, it looks like a letter of recommendation, but it's actually something different. I want to hold a new tournament. I hope Chairman Rose will agree."
Hikaru asked, "The Galarian Star Tournament?"
Leon was startled. "That's my personal idea. I haven't told anyone yet! You really are a Psychic, aren't you?"
"I've heard that some Psychics have the power to read minds. In the famous family that runs Galar's Psychic-type Gym, someone in their line has that kind of power. Though the strength of psychic power has nothing to do with battle ability."
The fact that the Psychic-type Gym was still second-string even now proved that point. After all, Pokémon battles were battles between Pokémon, not humans personally throwing hands.
That would not be legal.
Leon said, "I want to invite a great number of powerful Pokémon Trainers and Gym Leaders to participate. Even strong Trainers from other regions. That's what I'm thinking! And you, as a Champion-level Trainer, are one of the people I want to invite!"
"Though the idea is still just an early outline, I'm incredibly eager for the moment when I can face you head-on!"
Hikaru said, "I see. Then how about you go train at the battle facility on my side?"
"Not only can you battle experts from other regions, you can even battle experts from other worlds."
Leon froze for a moment, not understanding what Hikaru meant. But Hikaru merely shook hands with him.
"Then I'll see you at the Eternal Battle Reverie."
Watching everyone leave in a Corviknight Taxi, the strong currents and storm whipping up around them, Leon felt bewildered and puzzled.
But very soon, that feeling turned into—
"That sounds pretty good too. I don't really know what's going on, but something interesting is definitely going to happen."
Then Leon received a call. He opened his Rotom Phone, and sobbing immediately burst from it.
"Oh, Hop... You're asking why I lost? Don't cry. This was a necessary choice your big brother made in order to reach greater heights! Though I suppose it was also fate. Master Mustard really was right. There are many kinds of strength in this world."
"I heard that a Champion in the Kanto region underwent three years of training and reached a legendary level of battle strength. So, the next three years will be the time when the undefeated king rises again. I promise you, I'll win the next Champion Cup. Don't cry!"
Far in the distance, the great dragon comet streaked across the sky, passing through dark clouds and sunlight. When it flew over the Slumbering Weald, it once again roused the vigilance of the two heroes.
The legendary heroes of sword and shield were born in a faraway place, from the other side of the Slumbering Weald. Only by consulting records from other regions could one find their history.
This was, in fact, the very part Sonia had struggled so hard to uncover in the main story.
"Eternatus... How is this possible?!"
"The great dragon comet has actually awakened!"
Its direction was the Crown Tundra. The phantoms of the sword-and-shield heroes stared toward the source of the dragon comet's energy, urgency and agitation rising in their hearts.
Guarding the Crown Tundra was the King of Bountiful Harvests, who had ruled the land three thousand years ago.
But later, he had vanished.
"The power of the great dragon comet is far weaker than it was in the past. But it is deliberately restraining its own energy and absorbing those gigantic powers without affecting the lower world."
"Its intelligence has improved! Eternatus is taking action on its own for the first time. That creature never used to know what it was supposed to do. What exactly is it planning? It has the power to suppress ordinary Pokémon moves. If it uses that power..."
"Wait. Someone is coming. Uninvited guests...! Use the power of the mist to confuse them."
The two wolves thought so. But immediately afterward, they discovered that the people entering the forest seemed to possess some special ability.
They ignored the obstruction within the mist and walked straight toward the place where the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield were kept.
"They're here! We still can't fully revive. There's no one to restore the power of the sword and shield. What do we do?!"
"Have the ones tempted by the Dark King's soul come to try to dominate us? Here, before this sacred 'utopia far removed from the mortal world'!"
(End of Chapter)
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